Personalized gene editing helped one baby: can it be rolled out widely? Nature - In a world first, a bespoke gene-editing therapy benefited one child. Now researchers plan to launch a clinical trial of the approach.

Last year, researchers produced the first personalized base-editing gene therapy to treat an infant’s metabolic disorder. Now, they are launching a clinical trial to test the use of base editing techniques for other children’s similar genetic conditions.

IVF 'reward' scheme proposed by egg and sperm bank sparks concern In an email seen by the ABC, a US-based egg bank told IVF clinics it was introducing its new "Client Success Reward Program in Australia".

Experts warn that commercial incentives like this one create conflicts of interest that could impact patient autonomy. 2/2

An international gamete bank offered Australian IVF companies a "reward" scheme in which patient purchases of donor egg and sperm would earn the clinic “credits” to cover other patients’ gamete costs. 1/2

Some environmental groups are proposing a moratorium on the release of genetically modified species into the wild because of the risks such ventures involve.
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Marketing experimental technologies to make “better babies” as good investments for parents and for the country repackages early 20th century eugenic beliefs that controlling reproduction will improve humanity. 3/3 www.geneticsandsocie...

The technical challenges, safety risks, and significant ethical concerns posed by embryo editing techniques underscore that it should not be considered for commercial application.
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‘Biotech Barbie’ says the time has come to consider CRISPR babies. Do scientists agree? Nature - A company’s plan to edit the genomes of human embryos worries some researchers — but it might reflect the changing attitudes towards the controversial approach.

Although He Jiankui’s reckless experiments genetically editing embryos led to jail time, outcry from the scientific community, and a reaffirmation of the near-global consensus against heritable genome editing, two US startups just announced similar efforts to pursue HGE. 1/3

FDA clears way for faster personalized gene editing therapy The FDA plans to unveil a new approval process for custom gene-editing, a move designed to unleash a wave of industry investment. Read on

A top FDA regulator has announced that the agency plans to relax its strict rules for gene therapy development in an effort to fast-track gene therapies and boost investment in experimental treatments.

‘The pro-life movement still has some real juice’: How Trump’s promise of free IVF fizzled A lobbying blitz by social and religious conservatives paid off last week when Trump announced policies that fell short of his promise to make fertility treatments, which they oppose, free.

Social and religious conservatives’ yearlong efforts to lobby the Trump administration against IVF subsidies and coverage mandates have paid off. Trump’s recently announced policy proposals fall short of the robust IVF expansion he promised during his campaign.

A growing coalition of organizations and individuals concerned about designer babies and a techno-eugenic future has signed on to an international declaration against the legalization of human genetic modification. You can sign it here: coalitionstopdesigne...

Another flavor of pronatalism spurs Silicon Valley's interest in gene editing human embryos. Eager to create a world of genetic haves and have-nots, they ignore near-global policy consensus against HGE and dismiss concerns abt the techno-eugenic future they could usher in.2/3

Immigration crackdowns and attempts to persuade women to have more babies stem are both tied to far right attempts to link population and purity with pronatalism –– a set of concerns that echoes early 20th century eugenic preoccupations with racial purity. 1/3 www.npr.org/2025/10/...

To counter harmful pronatalist logics and their application in policy and new biotechnologies, Black feminists and allies recently gathered at a convening at Smith and Amherst Colleges to update the reproductive justice framework created by Black feminists in the 1990s. 2/2 msmagazine.com/2025/...

Powerful pronatalists’ support for childbearing only extends to those they deem fit to reproduce –– rich, white, able-bodied and cisgender married couples. Their policies continue centuries of efforts to control the reproduction of people of color. 1/2

We need an emphatic rejection of eugenic logics and strong regulation based in social justice values to prevent the use of risky and unethical techniques like heritable genome editing. 7/7

A New Eugenics Gold Rush? From designer babies to not-quite-designer jeans If you’ve been online or caught the news in the past few weeks, you’ve probab

CGS’ Katie Hasson warned of this “new eugenics gold rush” in August, “If ‘better babies’ (for those who can afford them) become a profit center, techno-eugenics – and assumptions about superiority based on genes – will take off.” 6/7
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‘Biotech Barbie’ says the time has come to consider CRISPR babies. Do scientists agree? A company’s plan to edit the genomes of human embryos worries some researchers — but it might reflect the changing attitudes towards the controversial approach.

Scientists, bioethicists, and civil society continue to raise alarms. These risky ventures are speeding past significant safety and ethical risks in an attempt to profit from gene editing embryos. 5/7 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Here’s the latest company planning for gene-edited babies Entrepreneurs say it’s time to safety-test designer baby technology.

Gene editing scientist Lucas Harrington announced that his company, Preventive, has $30M in funding to research heritable genome editing. Their eventual goal: making embryo editing a commonplace technology. 4/7
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A New Startup Wants to Edit Human Embryos Seven years after the first gene-edited babies were revealed, biotech startup Manhattan Genomics is reviving the idea of editing human embryos to make disease-free children.

One startup, Manhattan Genomics, is undeterred by risks of editing human embryos and prohibitions in place. Its founder, former Thiel fellow Cathy Tie, announced a slate of advisors recruited to guide the project, which she says only aims to correct genetic diseases.3/7 www.wired.com/story/startu...

Just this past week, two new startups announced their efforts to advance heritable genome editing – despite immense risks, widespread opposition, and laws that prohibit it. 2/7

Why are startups rushing to commercialize “designer baby” technologies that combine experimental biotech with genetic determinism and eugenics? 1/7

Under a Mask of AI Doomerism, the Familiar Face of Eugenics - Truthdig In a new book, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares hide their radical transhumanist agenda under the cover of concern about “AI safety.”

Beneath AI doomers’ dire warnings about the threats superintelligent AI pose to humanity is a curiously anti-human combination of transhumanism, techno-futurism, and eugenics. While they are right to see AI ventures as risky, their underlying ideals are equally problematic.

Beyond dire wolves: Could Colossal’s de-extinction work transform human health? While resurrected animal species grab headlines, Colossal’s behind-the-scenes R&D may be poised to make an impact for humans as well.

Its human-oriented efforts are likely to receive ethical scrutiny, just as its de-extinction efforts have.

Colossal Biosciences is not just attempting to “de-extinct” animals like the dire wolf, it’s also working on biotech for people, including artificial wombs and gene editing techniques that would deliver multiple edits at once. 1/2

Recent embryo and sperm mix-ups in the Australian fertility industry underscore that self-regulation of fertility clinics doesn’t work. Instead, independent accreditation of clinics to ensure they comply with national standards is needed.

McCloskey: Will it be the Wild West for designer babies? Abby McCloskey: Reproductive technologies are accelerating and they’re bound to become a political topic soon.

Heritable genome editing, the creation of human embryos, and “making superhumans” are on the horizon, unless public pressure helps create political momentum to strengthen regulation of new biotechnologies.

The first man to clone an animal (a frog) has died. His research made the cloning of the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, possible. It was also a catalyst for genetics research that has changed scientific understanding of numerous diseases and their treatment.
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Scientists and biotech startups remain optimistic about IVG, while consistently sidestepping safety risks and ethical concerns. 2/2

Recent headlines claimed that researchers "created" human eggs from skin cells, promising a future solution to infertility, despite the study finding that the created eggs would not be usable. 1/2

In China, a low-cost push to rival a life-saving, $2M medicine Indian veterinarian Nirnay Murthy sought Lantu Biopharma's experimental gene therapy for his son's spinal muscular atrophy after being unable to afford Novartis's $2.1M Zolgensma treatment.

The one-time gene therapy Zolgensma can stop the progression of spinal muscular atrophy, but its $2.1M price tag makes it difficult to access. Four Chinese companies are working on competing low-cost gene therapies.